Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cobb County-Mccollum Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Marietta, Georgia 30144
Monday, June 8, 2009 11:43 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Shortly after takeoff, when the special light sport airplane was climbing through an altitude of approximately 1,000 feet above ground level (agl), the certificated flight instructor (CFI) and the student smelled and saw electrical smoke in the cockpit. The CFI began a turn back to the departure airport, and declared an emergency to the air traffic control tower. The CFI, in the rear seat, and without access to the electrical switches or circuit breakers, asked the student in the front seat to "turn everything off except the radio." After they received clearance to return to the airport, the CFI asked the student to turn off the radio; the student turned off the radio and the master switch. Shortly thereafter, the CFI instructed the student to turn on the master switch and radio, but "they would not work," and when the student cycled the master switch, the engine ceased operation. The CFI stated that due to the low altitude at the time of the power loss, he focused on landing safely, and did not attempt to troubleshoot the situation or verify the student pilot's actions. The airplane landed uneventfully on a road. Post-incident examination and testing revealed that the main fuse block for the airplane's electrical system exhibited intermittent contact, which, due to the architecture of the electrical system, caused the airplane system voltage to peak at values 5 to 8 volts above the normal value of 12 volts. The over-voltage condition resulted in overheating and thermal damage to an avionics cooling fan. The fuse block was not intended for aviation applications, and was installed without a positive locking mechanism for the fuse retainer. After the incident, the airplane manufacturer issued a service bulletin that recommended safety-wiring the main fuse block fuse retainer in the closed position, and also incorporated that change into the production line. No electrical or mechanical mechanism that related the fuse block malfunction or the over-voltage condition to engine operation or failure was identified. After the fuse block and damaged cooling fan were replaced with new units, the incident airplane and engine functioned normally. It was likely that the student inadvertently and unknowingly shut down the engine when he attempted to comply with the CFI's instructions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An electrical fire due to the lack of a positive locking mechanism for the fuse retainer in the main fuse block, which resulted in voltage fluctuations that caused thermal damage to the avionics cooling fan. Contributing to the incident was the student pilot's inadvertent shutdown of the engine at low altitude.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 6/8/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1143 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Marietta |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30144 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340047N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0843549W |
| Event Location Airport | Cobb County-McCollum Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RYY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1040 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1159 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 100 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RYY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1040 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27345 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 4 2010 8:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N445SA |
| NTSB Number | ERA09IA326 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | INIZIATIVE |
| Aircraft Model | Sky Arrow |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | LSA0008 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1320 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 28 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 24 |
| Airframe Hours | 339 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Hansen Air Group |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kennesaw |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30144 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Hansen Air Group |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Kennesaw |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 30144 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RYY |
| Departure City | Marietta |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1140 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | RYY |
| Destination City | Marietta |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 20 2010 9:01AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |